Hi everyone,

I have a four year old border collie who I've known for her entire life, but only recently obtained as my own dog. She belonged to my sister's GF who we will call Jane. When Jane got Scotty (the dog) she wasn't in a good living situation, so she sent her to live on her parents farm. She was relatively isolated and encouraged to guard the yard. When my sister and Jane moved into our house, they brought Scotty along with them. She kept Scotty in the yard most of the time where her guarding became worse and was an outlet for pent up energy. Jane was possessive of Scotty and didn't like if I took her out with our other dogs often.

Eventually we were fed up and began working with Scotty ourselves, as much as we could without upsetting Jane. Her guarding lessened and we could trust her in the house and yard once she realized the visitor was accepted by us. She has come along way and will stop barking on command.

A few weeks ago, Jane was convinced to give Scotty to me, realizing that she will not be in a place anytime soon suitable for such a high energy working breed.

Unfortunately, I had to go away for work so I wasn't able to work with Scotty much before I left and I won't be back home permanently until September 15th. However, for the few weeks while I was in town and she was officially my dog, this is the routine we tended to follow:

Wake up around 6:30 am, let her and the pack outside.

We walk to work at a dog groomers to arrive at 7:30. I feed her in the office.

Until around 3pm, she plays with the other dogs running around the shop, and plays with the numerous toys around the shop. She is very adept at playing by herself...she pushes her toys around and leaps on them like a fox.

After work, we walk home. She wears her Outward Hound back pack with full water bottles. Half way home, we play fetch.

When I get home, she just hangs out with the other dogs. Usually I put her on the treadmill for half an hour late afternoon. They play in the yard or in the house. She plays a lot with her teaser ball.

In the evening, we go on a bike ride for at least an hour to one of the nearby man made lakes. She swims for a LONG time...she prefers not to chase anything, she just goes out and swims. It's hard to get her out. She splashes with her front legs and tries to bite the water...people sometimes think she's drowning!

She eats again when we get home from the walk and is usually sleeping in the "dog den" (under our basement stairs amongst dozens of pillows with the other dogs by 11pm. She is not put there, they have free access to the rest of the house.

A few times a week, we go to the dog park..but at the dog park, she is obsessive over tennis balls and doesn't even seem to notice the other dogs. She would be just as happy in an empty field.



MY PROBLEM WITH HER IS AS FOLLOWS:

She is generally a very sweet dog. She would never bite any member of our family or a friend that she is used to. She has a tendency to run up to people she doesn't know and nip their ankles. Most people think she is trying to play and she's never broken the skin, but I know better. This has happened at the dog park and with friends. Because of this I keep a very close watch on her and she is very rarely off lead around groups of people, unless they are all close to me and are aware of Scotties behavior. This weekend I went camping with a group of friends and she was running around ,head down, tail wagging, and ignored most people, but would occaisionally nip the ankles of people walking away from her. When introduced to people, she will often lick their hands while staring at them, then move to nip their ankle when they turn to leave. If you give her a tennis ball in a group, she will offer it to everyone and allows anyone to take it from her and throw it.

I'm aware that this is a common bad habit for heelers, but I'm wondering what the best steps are to take to break her of it. She is a very soft dog and tends to sulk/pout easily. If reprimanded to strongly, she shuts down and will try to hide.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Welcome and thanks for taking on this girl I'm rather partial to BC's myself - I've got 3

The best way to break it is to not give her an opportunity to do it. Keep her on leash or give her something to do - like fetch. Teach her the meaning of "nope" and use it when you see her fixating on people - watch her body language and you can stop the nip before it happen. If she starts getting fixated tell her "nope" and put her on leash. My dogs are not allowed to circle or "herd" people. It's just a bad habit.

Looking over your routine I don't see much "down time" during the day. I think it is really important to give these dogs down time. Excitement builds excitement and what you need to be doing is teaching her how to settle down and be calm. If she thinks she always need to be doing something, she'll always be looking for something to do (including nipping, which often comes from over-stimulation).

I would be be giving her down time throughout the day. While you're at work, just crate her for a couple hours here and there. Have time where you just ask her to lay calmly near you for a while (my 3 will just chill in the living room while I spend a couple hours doing homework). Just because BCs can go all day it doesn't mean they need to.

I would also add in some mental work like marker training. Mental work will tire a dog out much faster than physical exercise. Make her work for her ball instead of just throwing it. Instead of just exercising spend the time training her to do something (agility, nose work, stupid pet tricks). With some work you'll get a dog with self control who loves to work with you.